Stories about Digital Activism from January, 2010
Iran: Two Bloggers in Danger of Death
Two Iranian bloggers, who are also human rights defendants, are behind bars under serious charges. Mehrdad Rahimi and Kouhyar Goudarzi have been accused of wanting to wage “a war against God,” and charged as being “Mohareb” (enemies of God). Their charges are similar to those against the two men who were executed this week in Tehran.
Iran: Iranian Cyber Army hacked Radio Zamaneh
Iranian Cyber Army hacked Netherlands based Radio Zamaneh. The message on the hacked site says in Persian: “you who betray your country are not safe even when you are with...
Iran: A cleric blogger was arrested
According to some Iranian sites and blogs Ali Ashraf Fathi, a Qom based religious student and blogger was arrested [fa] on Friday. He used to write [fa] in his blog...
Russia: Opposition Blogger Finally Gets Permission To Leave Country
An opposition blogger Oleg Kozlovsky tells his story [EN] on how his blog helped his to finally receive a passport allowing him to leave Russia. The country's Federal Security Service...
Azerbaijan: Democracy is…
Önər Blog [AZ] posts a video [EN] made by the OL! Azerbaijani Youth Movement for the Democracy Video Challenge. OL! has been exemplary in its use of new media in...
Iran: Green Tune to Support Protest Movement
A ring tone for a song which motivated young Iranians to go to the front and fight during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s is making the rounds again in solidarity with the opposition. Hamid Tehrani reviews the reactions of bloggers to the 'Ey Iran' song.
Haiti, U.S.A.: Donating Breastmilk
Repeating Islands links to a story about the importance of breast milk for the infant victims of Haiti's earthquake.
Haiti: The Politics of Recovery
The last thing that Haiti needs as it faces the monumental task of recovering from the earthquake that devastated Port-au-Prince and its environs on January 12 is a lack of good governance. Yet, some members of the Haitian blogosphere are bracing themselves for more of the same when it comes to the 2010 earthquake recovery effort.
Poland: Anglophone Blogs
Polandian reviews Poland's Anglophone blogosphere.
Egypt: The Right to Speak Up
Egyptian bloggers and activists held a conference on January 22 in defense of their right to speak up after more than 20 Egyptian bloggers were arrested when their train arrived in the village of Naga Hammady where the Coptic massacre took place. Marwa Rakha sums up their reactions to their detention in this post.
Bermuda: Busting the Budget
“In three years, the public debt has grown by $480,481,000! And that’s before the economic recession really dug it’s teeth into Bermuda”: Vexed Bermoothes says that “the costs of the...
Russia: Prosecution Against Opposition Blogger Stopped
The first criminal case against a blogger in Russia with a happy ending unfolded over a long period of time. After two years of investigation and three socio-linguistic assessments, experts didn't find any evidence of "incitement hatred against police and Russian Security Service officers." But the blogger's victory, however, is rather an exception than a rule.
Belarus: Politics and Economy Update
Belarus Digest reports on the ongoing political repressions in Belarus; the governement's plan “to introduce censorship on the Internet about a year before the next presidential election”; the new price...
Europe: BloggingPortal.eu is One Year Old
Kosmopolito announces the first anniversary of Bloggingportal.eu: “More than 500 euroblogs, 25 editors and thousands of visitors!”
Russia: Lyudmila Alexeyeva; “Zhivago's Children”
IZO links to a New York Times’ profile of the 82-year-old Russian dissident Lyudmila Alexeyeva (who blogs in Russian at http://lm-alexeeva.livejournal.com/) – and to a review of Vladislav Zubok's Zhivago's...
Bermuda: Takeover Bid
“My opinion is that the PLP takeover of the City is not about reform; I believe it is about power and real estate development. Watch the money”: Bermuda's Vexed Bermoothes...
Syria: Netizens Discuss SourceForge Ban
A day after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for a free and open Internet, Syrian users noticed they could no longer access open-source software community SourceForge. Bloggers react to the block.
Hungary: The Invisible Marsh
Marietta Le reports on the story of one of Hungary's most successful citizen campaigns, whose goal is to save an endangered marsh by preventing an allegedly illegal expansion of a shopping center.
Russia: Editor Of Major Newspaper Says Police Treats Internet As Traditional Media
Commenting on the recent arrest of a former Russian police officer who used a video blog to expose police corruption in the country, an editor of a major Russian newspaper...
Haiti: Media Responsibility
Repeating Islands posts an excerpt from Rebecca Solnit, who, “disturbed by media coverage of alleged looting in Port-au-Prince following the earthquake, posted a powerful article decrying the criminalization of victims...
Haiti: Lessons Learned
Carol and Tom in Haiti post a list of lessons learned in the aftermath of the earthquake, while Trinidadian blogger Tattoo writes about the dos and don'ts of disaster aid.
